Gemstone Team Researchhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/9070
Sat, 19 Nov 2016 13:13:52 GMT2016-11-19T13:13:52ZGemstone Team Researchhttp://drum.lib.umd.edu:80/bitstream/id/31139/clear g umd.jpghttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/9070
The Effect of Dietary Tartrazine on Brain Dopamine and the Behavioral Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorderhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/18096
The Effect of Dietary Tartrazine on Brain Dopamine and the Behavioral Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Bloom, Shoshana; Chiang, Kevin; Demehri, Sharlene; Kreshpanji, Sara; McCaffrey, Erin; Patel, Karishma; Sebastian, Tracy; Shan, Salwa; Sukri, Leah
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder
correlated with a decrease in brain dopamine and an increase in behavioral symptoms
of hyperactivity and impulsivity. This experiment explored how tartrazine (Yellow
#5) impacts these symptoms. After tartrazine administration to Spontaneously
Hypertensive Rats (SHR), dopamine concentrations in regions of brain tissue were
measured using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay analysis. Behavioral testing
with a T-maze and open field test measured impulsivity and hyperactivity,
respectively. Results indicate that dietary tartrazine increases hyperactive behaviors in
the SHR. However, results do not indicate a relationship between dietary tartrazine
and brain dopamine. No conclusions regarding the relationship between dietary
tartrazine and impulsivity were drawn.
Sun, 01 May 2016 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/180962016-05-01T00:00:00ZA Study of pH Manipulation on Tumor Proliferation and the CTL Responsehttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/18095
A Study of pH Manipulation on Tumor Proliferation and the CTL Response
Beg, Subul; Chang, Alice; Egan, Ciara; Feleke-Eshete, Lienna; Kao, Allen; Martinson, James; Sehareen, Saadiya; Tunick, Benjamin; Wainger, Julia
Adoptive Cell Transfer (ACT) Therapy is a cancer treatment that enhances and
utilizes the body’s own immune system. However, this treatment has had limited
success in clinical trials. We hypothesized that this is due to the immunosuppressive,
acidic microenvironment of cancer tumors. We tested the effects of acidic, neutral,
and basic environments in vitro on cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) survival,
activation, migration and killing ability and on cancer cell survival. We found that
CTLs have most optimum survival, activation, and migration in a neutral
environment, while the optimal extracellular conditions for EG-7 lymphoma are
slightly acidic and B16-OVA melanoma survives best in physiological conditions.
Future research should further study the killing ability of T cells in the three different
environments and look to move to in vivo experiments.
Sun, 01 May 2016 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/180952016-05-01T00:00:00ZA Stationless Bikeshare Proof of Concept for College Campuseshttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/18094
A Stationless Bikeshare Proof of Concept for College Campuses
Boegner, Luke; Cho, Yong; Fleming, Nicholas; Gilman, Tyler; Huang, Teng Kuan; King, Kyle; Kruder, Nathaniel; Lafond, Joshua; McLaughlin, Timothy; Noh, Sye Hoon; Poh, William; Ruppel, Emily; Wei, Libby
Bikeshares promote healthy lifestyles and sustainability among commuters, casual
riders, and tourists. However, the central pillar of modern systems, the bike station,
cannot be easily integrated into a compact college campus. Fixed stations lack the
flexibility to meet the needs of college students who make quick, short-distance trips.
Additionally, the necessary cost of implementing and maintaining each station prohibits
increasing the number of stations for user convenience. Therefore, the team developed a
stationless bikeshare based on a smartlock permanently attached to bicycles in the
system. The smartlock system design incorporates several innovative approaches to
provide usability, security, and reliability that overcome the limitations of a station
centered design. A focus group discussion allowed the team to receive feedback on the
early lock, system, and website designs, identify improvements and craft a pleasant user
experience. The team designed a unique, two-step lock system that is intuitive to operate
while mitigating user error. To ensure security, user access is limited through near field
ii
communications (NFC) technology connected to a mechatronic release system. The said
system relied on a NFC module and a servo working through an Arduino microcontroller
coded in the Arduino IDE. To track rentals and maintain the system, each bike is fitted
with an XBee module to communicate with a scalable ZigBee mesh network. The
network allows for bidirectional, real-time communication with a Meteor.js web
application, which enables user and administrator functions through an intuitive user
interface available on mobile and desktop. The development of an independent
smartlock to replace bike stations is essential to meet the needs of the modern college
student. With the goal of creating a bikeshare that better serves college students, Team
BIKES has laid the framework for a system that is affordable, easily adaptable, and
implementable on any university expressing an interest in bringing a bikeshare to its
campus.
Sun, 01 May 2016 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/180942016-05-01T00:00:00ZInvestigating the Diabetic Brain: The Effects of Pioglitazone and Insulin on the Cellular Processes and Pathology of Alzheimer's Diseasehttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/18088
Investigating the Diabetic Brain: The Effects of Pioglitazone and Insulin on the Cellular Processes and Pathology of Alzheimer's Disease
Bagheri, Tanya; Bennett, Vincent; Buck, Annelise; Gordge, Kelles; Green, Ilana; Kang, Eric; Kim, Nahye; McCue, Caroline; Mehta, Unnati; Morken, Shannon; Rezwan, Mayumi; Zachery, Ashley
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the sixth leading cause of death in the US. Some
researchers refer to AD as “Type III Diabetes” because of reported glucose metabolism
dysfunction. Preclinical studies suggest increasing insulin decreases AD pathology, although
the mechanism remains unclear. To sensitize insulin signaling, this study activated
Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma using intranasal co-administration of
pioglitazone (PGZ) and insulin. This method targeted the site of action to reduce peripheral
effects and to maximize impact in transgenic mice expressing AD pathology. Data from
GC-MS fluxomics analysis suggested that PGZ+Insulin increased glucose metabolism in the
brain. Immunohistochemistry with relevant antibodies was used to identify AD pathological
markers in the subiculum, indicating that PGZ+Insulin decreased pathology compared to
Insulin and Saline. This suggests that increasing glucose uptake in the brain alleviated AD
pathology, further clarifying the role of insulin signaling in AD pathology.Gemstone
Sun, 01 May 2016 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/180882016-05-01T00:00:00Z